Investigators seek FBI's help in Peterson case

The FBI is expected to join the search for missing Bolingbrook mother Stacy Peterson early next week, opening the possibility of "technical assistance of the U.S. Navy" if needed, a spokesman for the Will County state's attorney said Friday.

Charles Pelkie said investigators asked the federal agency for help in putting more searchers on the hunt and to lend its expertise if required.

Meanwhile, volunteers will resume looking for Peterson, 23, on Saturday, beginning at 9 a.m. at the Bolingbrook Recreation and Aquatic Complex, 200 S. Lindsey Lane. Although they will comb some ground that has been searched before, family spokeswoman Pam Bosco said she hopes the search will be even more thorough this time.

Peterson disappeared Oct. 28. Her husband, former police Sgt. Drew Peterson, has been named a suspect.

Drew Peterson's third wife, Kathleen Savio, was found dead in the bathtub of her home in March 2004. The death was ruled accidental at the time it occurred, but recently, investigators exhumed her body to see whether there was evidence of homicide.

Drew Peterson, 53, who retired from the Bolingbrook police force after Stacy Peterson went missing, has denied involvement in both cases.

He told authorities on Thanksgiving that he received a letter from an anonymous source stating that his wife was spotted in a Peoria grocery store. Bosco was skeptical about the letter and expressed surprise that the author did not give his or her name, especially because there is a $25,000 reward for information leading to Stacy Peterson's whereabouts.

"I find it very interesting that Mr. Peterson is placing any value in the letter ... when his original statement was that she took a passport, a large sum of money and a bikini and was heading for the Bahamas," Bosco said at a news conference Friday.

As for reports that Drew Peterson was seen with another man hauling a large blue barrel to his sport-utility vehicle the day his wife disappeared, Bosco said all such leads should be investigated. This month, searchers found a blue barrel in one of many bodies of water they searched but concluded it likely was not connected to the case.

Bosco said Thanksgiving Day was difficult for her family.

Thursday "was a very, very hard day," she said. "Stacy was a family person. She held the family together. The family ... tried to get together, but it wasn't festive at all."

State Police Master Sgt. Luis Gutierrez said investigators searched parts of Cook, DuPage and Will Counties on Friday. Stacy Peterson's case is classified as a criminal missing-person investigation, he said, adding that no suspects other than Drew Peterson have been identified.